Bill O'Reilly, the disgraced former Fox News presenter, signed a $100 million contract with the US TV network just weeks after he personally paid $32 million to a female colleague who threatened to sue him for sexual harassment, it has emerged.

The media company, which is owned by Rupert Murdoch, was aware of the payment to legal analyst Lis Wiehl when they renewed Mr O'Reilly's four year agreement in February, according to an expose by the New York Times.

The allegations made by Miss Wiehl, who has since left the channel, included incidents of repeated harassment and sending of gay pornography and other sexually explicit material to her.

She threatened to sue.

This latest episode to hit Fox comes after Gretchen Carlson, a former high-profile Fox presenter, received $20 million from her employers after she claimed former chairman Roger Ailes harassed her.

Mr O'Reilly, who was fired in April, told the newspaper he settled the claim to avoid a public showdown: "I never mistreated anyone," he said. "This is crap."

He added: "It's politically and financially motivated and we can prove it with shocking information but I'm not going to sit here in a courtroom for a year and a half and let my kids get beaten up every single day of their lives by a tabloid press that would sit there, and you know it."

This is the sixth payout that Fox or its presenters have paid out to his accusers. The payouts now total $43 million.

Federal prosecutors who had been investigating the network’s handling of sexual harassment complaints against Mr Ailes have also asked for material related to allegations involving Mr O’Reilly, according to an internal Fox email obtained by the New York Times.

In a statement, 21st Century Fox defended its decision because it said he had settled the matter personally. It also said O’Reilly and the woman had agreed the financial terms would be kept confidential.

The company says Mr O’Reilly’s new contract had added protections that allowed Fox to dismiss him if other allegations surfaced.